*Previously on G.I. Joe: Resurgence:
1. Main Series
https://www.comicbookmovie.com/fan_fic/flixmentallo21-presents-gi-joe-resurgence-a-netflix-original-series-a149054
2. Miniseries 1: Redemption
https://www.comicbookmovie.com/fan_fic/flixmentallo21-presents-gi-joe-resurgence-redemption-a-netflix-original-miniseries-a153474
3. Miniseries 2: Live the Adventure
https://www.comicbookmovie.com/fan_fic/flixmentallo21-presents-gi-joe-resurgence-live-the-adventure-a-netflix-original-animated-miniseries-a162871
Sub-teams have been a part of the G.I. Joe line for a number of decades, from the 1986 Special Mission: Brazil squad to the Wolf Squad introduced in the 50th Anniversary line in 2014. Sub-teams were at one point the entirety of the toys in the waning years of the original run of the series (1993-94). Most of the time, sub-teams are made up of previously-released figures in environmentally-specific color schemes (like the Desert Patrol Squad in 2004) or are a mix of both new and established faces (like the 1990's Eco-Warriors and Drug Elimination Force). Rare is the occasion when a sub-team is made specifically exclusive to a certain retailer, which was the case for one particularly popular sub-team in the G.I. Joe line: the Toys R Us-exclusive Night Force.
Night Force was a group of Joes brought together for specifically night-based missions, with appropriate uniforms to match. (Think of the stealth modes for the Team from Young Justice or the title group from Wolverine and the X-Men.) From the packaging text:
When the sun goes down, the GI JOE NIGHT FORCE squad is ready for action! NIGHT FORCE is a covert team specializing in nightime surveillance and defensive operations. Missions conducted in the darkness have special problems, which the NIGHT FORCE squad has overcome with enhanced skills, sophisticated hardware and advanced technology. They use the element of surprise to vanquish the enemy, striking under cover of darkness and disappearing into the night, mission accomplished!
The first version of the Night Force was released in 1988 and consisted of three two-packs of figures, each a repaint of a figure from the 1987 wave. The second wave of Night Force figures was released in 1989 and followed suit by repainting figures from the 1988 main figure lineup. Both waves featured repainted versions of previously-released Joe vehicles (and even one Cobra vehicle), in a black color scheme with neon orange highlights and glow-in-the-dark decals.
Left-to-right: Shockwave, Sneak Peek, Outback, Crazylegs, Repeater, Psyche-Out, Charbroil, Spearhead and Max (the bobcat), Muskrat, Lightfoot, Falcon, and Tunnel Rat.
During the New Sculpt Era of the 2000's, Hasbro revisited this sub-team a couple of times: in 2003 with three figures in the Spy Troops series, and in 2004 as both a themed two-pack in the Valor Vs. Venom series and one of their Toys R Us-exclusive multi-figure packs, with a new, more unified color scheme and some new additions to the squad, including a version of the U.K.-based Action Man.
Left-to-right: a second Tunnel Rat, Beach Head, Flint, Roadblock, and Short-Fuze.
Modern-era construction versions of a few Night Force members were released throughout the 25th Anniversary line (Outback in the Assault on Cobra Island set) and in the tie-in series for the Rise of Cobra movie (Shockwave and Tunnel Rat in a couple of Wal-Mart two-packs), but it was in an exclusive figure set (with additional souvenirs) for the 2013 G.I. Joe Collectors Convention where the team was reperesented the most.
While the set included modern era-styled takes on certain original Night Force members (Psyche-Out, Repeater, Muskrat, Spearhead and Max, and Charbroil), they also added some new faces to the squad (established Joes Lady Jaye, Chuckles, Hit N' Run, Steeler, and new Joe team member Freestyle). Modern Era versions of Night Force Falcon and Crazylegs were released by the Club the year after.
Between February and early March of this year, PHX Customs--a name you're by now familiar with thanks to my recent Joe-themed fancasts--added to their Resurgence saga with a Night Force-themed installment. (It's also their second Night Force project, with the first being from 2014.) This story arc pits the venerable G.I. Joe sub-unit (joined by a founding member of the original Action and Adventure Teams) against a new Cobra squad known as the Shadow Brigade in a locale not seen since the days of the Sunbow cartoon series: the mysterious Sea of Lost Souls. Who will win? Find out in my fancast of their project, titled:
*Nocturnal Fire was the name of the 2013 convention storyline.*
*All character reinterpretations and redesigns by the fine folks at PHX Customs.*
Voice Cast
1. G.I. Joe Night Force unit
-General Hawk - David Kaye
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/David-Kaye/
*According to PHX Customs co-founder Oreobuilder, Hawk's uniform is based on the one he sported in issues 13 and 38 of the Marvel comic. Kaye, as he did in the 1990's, fills in for Hawk's original voice actor, the late Ed Gilbert.*
-G.I. Jane - Kate Mulgrew
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000550/?ref_=nv_sr_1
*G.I. Jane is based on the 1967 Action Nurse figure from the original 1960's G.I. Joe line; this was retroactively established in the Marvel comic, where it was revealed that her role as the team's nurse was a cover for her work as a specialized expert in strategic defense tech. In terms of the casting here, who better to voice the legendary G.I. Jane than the former Captain Janeway?*
-Wet-Suit - Lex Lang
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Lex-Lang/
*Wet-Suit's color scheme is based on his 2001 figure. Lang fills in for his original voice actor Jack Angel.*
-Wet Down - James Arnold Taylor
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/James-Arnold-Taylor/
*Wet Down debuted in the 2000-02 Real American Hero Collection as a new character repainted from the 1983 Torpedo mold. Oreobuilder's color scheme here is based on the 1997 version of Torpedo.*
-Nunchuck - Mark Dacascos
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001092/?ref_=nv_sr_1
*Nunchuck originated as a member of the 1992 G.I. Joe sub-team Ninja Force. He received a new figure in 2002, which was then repainted in a Night Force color scheme in 2003. That second figure is the basis for the figure seen here (crafted by PHX Customs member Danofthedead).*
-Overwatch - Gideon Emery
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Gideon-Emery/
*Oreobuilder based Overwatch's build and colors on the 2001 version of the Joe team's night spotter Low-Light. Emery's experience lending his voice to a number of military-based video games makes him a qualified candidate to voice the only new character introduced in the story.*
-Grunt - Tony Oliver
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Tony-Oliver/
*Oliver fills in for Grunt's original voice actor Dan Roth. I'd go more into how he returned from the alternate Cobra-dominated Earth from the classic Sunbow two-parter "Worlds Without End", but I'll save that for another day. (It effectively makes my interpretation of Resurgence a 'tangent' of PHX Customs'.)
-Starduster - Robert Hays
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001332/?ref_=nv_sr_1
*Starduster, who previously appeared in the first Resurgence series, originated as a 1987 mail-away-exclusive figure.*
-Beach Head - Tom Kenny
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Tom-Kenny/
*Kenny fills in for Beach Head's original voice actor, the late great William Callaway.*
-Torpedo - Michael Yama
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0945194/?ref_=nv_sr_1
*Yama reprises his role from the Sunbow cartoon series.*
-Breaker - Christopher Swindle
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Christopher-Swindle/
*Swindle takes over on one of the late, great Chris Latta's many characters on the Sunbow show. Wouldn't be the first time, since he did the same for 2015's Transformers: Devastation video game, where he voiced my favorite G1 Autobot (Wheeljack).*
-Shimik - Jesse Corti
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0181425/?ref_=nv_sr_1
*Shimik is based on an early 1980's figure of the same name released exclusively in Argentina for the Plastirama company's distribution of GI Joe.*
-Skids - Rob Paulsen
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Rob-Paulsen/
*The character originally went by the name Skidmark (who appeared earlier in the Resurgence saga). Paulsen returns to voice him, and is a veteran of the original Sunbow cartoon, where he voiced 1983 Joe recruits Snow Job and Tripwire.*
-Major Barrage - Patrick Seitz
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Patrick-Seitz/
*Major Barrage debuted in the 2005-06 Direct-To-Consumer G.I. Joe series.*
-Switch Gears - Rino Romano
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Rino-Romano/
*Switch Gears debuted in the 2003 Spy Troops line of G.I. Joe as the team's newest tank driver. Romano returns to voice him after the first Resurgence series.*
-Chuckles - Denny Delk
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0217246/?ref_=nv_sr_1
*Delk returns as Chuckles from the first Resurgence series. His casting, as mentioned before, is based on his General McFarland from Spiral Zone, a good fit for someone who looks and sounds like he's spent a decent amount of time in Langley, VA and at the Pentagon. Quite the change of pace, considering Chuckles was silent throughout 1987's G.I. Joe: The Movie.*
-Faces - Roger Craig Smith
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Roger-Craig-Smith/
*Faces originated in the 2003 Spy Troops line of G.I. Joe, even playing a prominent role in the animated DTV movie that debuted that year.*
+Additional characters
-Dial-Tone - Hank Garrett (reprising his role from the Sunbow cartoon)
-Bullhorn - Mitchell Whitfield (filling in for original DIC cartoon VA Dave Wills)
-Short-Fuze - Frank Welker (another Sunbow reprisal)
-Shipwreck - Neil Ross (another Sunbow reprisal)
2. Cobra Shadow Brigade
A) Command
-The Interrogator - Mark Hamill
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000434/?ref_=nv_sr_1
*Returning from season 3 of the main Resurgence series, as stated prior Hamill's casting is inspired by both Justin Bell's (of the website General's Joes) characterization of the villain in his photo-comics, and by Hamill's portrayal of one of the Haydonites in Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles.*
-Night Crawler - Jim Ward
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Jim-Ward/
*Ward's casting is based on two Marvel characters of his--Herr Kleiser in the Ultimate Avengers films, and Baron Strucker in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Night Crawler's uniform is based on the W.O.R.M.S., the drivers of the 1987 Cobra artillery vehicle called the M.A.G.G.O.T.*
-Fire Storm - Greg Chun
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Greg-Chun/
*According to PHX Customs, Fire Storm is based on a combination of Storm Shadow's figure in the 2004 Cobra Urban Division set, and Firefly's role in the split of the Arashikage ninja clan.*
-Scrap-Iron - Michael Bell
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Michael-Bell/
*Bell, as in Resurgence season 3, reprises his role from the Sunbow cartoon. Scrap-Iron's colors are based on his figure from the 2004 Cobra Urban Division set.*
-Wild Weasel - Pat Fraley
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Patrick-Fraley/
*Fraley reprises his role from the Sunbow cartoon. The design is based on a combination of the character's original 1984 figure (in terms of the pants) and the 2003 Built-To-Rule version of the character (the upper half).*
B) New and refreshed Cobra troops
-Shore-Vipers (naval security)
*Builds are inspired by the Cobra Lamprey troops/pilots.*
-Stealth-Vipers (neutralizers)
-(Mid)Night Creepers (ninjas)
*The colors are inspired by the Night Creepers from the 2004 Cobra Urban Division figure set.*
-Night-Vipers (night fighters)
*Based on the 1989 original, in Cobra blue.*
-Night Watch Officer (center), Troopers, and standard Vipers (infantrymen)
*According to PHX Customs, the build and color scheme of the Vipers are inspired by the non-official figures created by a group of NYC-based Joe fans called the Tri-State Vipers. The Night Watch Officer and Troopers are based on exclusive Night Watch figure sets put out in 2005 and 2008.*
-Shadow-Vipers (jet pack infiltrators)
*The Shadow-Vipers originated from the 2000-02 Real American Hero Collection series, as a repaint of the 1988 Astro-Viper.*
-Stealth and Shadow B.A.T.S. (Battle Android Troopers)
*Based on the features PHX Customs liked from the BATS released from 2002-05.*
-(Dark) Alley-Vipers (urban assault troopers)
*Colors are based on the Alley-Vipers from the 2004 Cobra Urban Division figure set.*
-H.E.A.T.-Vipers (anti-tank troopers)
*Colors are based on the 2001 Fast Blast Viper, itself a partial repaint of the 1989 H.E.A.T.-Viper.*
What happens next? Tune in this Summer, when PHX Customs unveils G.I. Joe Resurgence 4.